“The January-August period was the warmest first eight months of any year on record for the contiguous United States,” the agency said. “The national temperature of 58.7 degrees [Fahrenheit] was 4.0 degrees above the 20th century average, and 1.0 degrees above the previous record warm January-August of 2006. During the eight-month period, 33 states were record warm and an additional 12 states were top ten warm. Only Washington had statewide temperatures near average for the period.”

It was the third hottest summer on record since 1895 – with over 4,200 daily warm temperature records broken or tied during August.

Less ice means less of the sun’s energy reflected back into space. Instead, land and sea absorb the heat, leading to more ice melt, and ultimately impacting the jet steam. A study published last year showed Arctic warming causing the jet stream to slow down and become more amplified in a north-south direction. This can lead to more intense and extreme weather events for the U.S. and Europe.

“[The] tendency for weather to hang around longer is going to favor extreme weather conditions that are related to persistent weather patterns,” said climate scientist Jennifer Francis.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.